One of the more surprising career trajectories of recent years has been the incredible rise of Mark Wahlberg. From the dubious early days as the muscle-bound brother of one of New Kids on the Block, Wahlberg has gradually grown to position where he not only stars in critically-acclaimed movies, but often produces them too.
And the latest movie to feature Wahlberg’s name in the acting and production credits is The Gambler. This film aims to provide a modern-day update to the 1974 movie of the same name, and as such, provides Wahlberg with the perfect opportunity to cast himself as a 21st century equivalent to James Caan.
The basic premise of the film is one that will be familiar to many people who’ve seen any other movies that focuses on dusky poker halls with elements of the criminal underworld lurking in the shadows.
Basically, Wahlberg stars as a college professor who gradually becomes evermore in debt in order to feed his rapidly-growing gambling habit. As such, we see some pretty impressive performances from the likes of John Goodman as a particularly nasty loan-shark, as well as Jessica Lange who plays a suitably wracked mother watching her son spiral out of control.
Although Wahlberg reportedly shed sixty pounds for his performance, something about the film felt a little unemotional and even lightweight. Maybe it just suffers in comparison with the other more-established movies in the gambling genre such as The Sting and of course, Martin Scorsese’s Casino.
Epic poker showdowns such as Paul Newman’s intense performance in The Sting would undoubtedly make you question how do you rate your poker skills compared to these celebrities. And whilst gaming on sites like Lucky Nugget Casino may prove to be a simple and fun experience, such games of video poker unfortunately reveal that Wahlberg somehow manages to make gambling almost tedious.
However, it’s not all bad as the film manages to get the adrenaline going at times due to the well-thought out soundtrack that features the likes of M83 and Ray Lamontagne. And director Rupert Wyatt keeps the action moving relatively smoothly as Wahlberg’s character tries in vain to collect $250,000 dollars.
But it’s the fact that John Goodman’s obscenity-laden diatribes deliver the most memorable scenes that ultimately highlights the main point that The Gambler should have been able to make gambling look a lot more exciting!